SWAT Kats: Red Moon Rising
by Arclight-Zero
Summary: It was fine and dandy until Dark Kat and Dr. Viper caused a chain of events that turned Megakat City into a quarantine zone.
1. Prologue

**SWAT Kats: Red Moon Rising**

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><p>Prologue: Fatal Follies<p>

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><p>The orders were clear. No scientists were allowed in the labs after 10 p.m.<p>

After the last scientist left the premise, the soldiers locked down the entire place. Doors were covered with repulsor fields and even the sewer systems that led to the labs were patrolled. While the Enforcers made up the bulk of the guard force, there was a sizable number of marines in the area as well. Unlike the Enforcers, the marines wore bulkier combat armour with urban gray camouflage colour. Years of training made the marines some of the toughest combatants on the planet and the ones patrolling the labs were no new recruits too. They were seasoned veterans with combat experiences gained during the Angorian Continental War and the Chartreux Incursion Conflict. The military was aware of Megakat City's villains and they wanted to make sure the project was not jeopardised.

Ulysses Feral, commander of the Enforcers, was there to oversee the guards along with an old friend of his from the military academy, Colonel Martin Bobtail. Feral met Bobtail when they were just new recruits many years ago. After finishing their tour of duty in the restive region of Katmandu, both went separate ways with Feral working his way to becoming the commander of the Enforcers and Bobtail working his way to becoming a well-respected colonel in the Federal Army. Both were happy to see each other again and just an hour ago, the two a drink at the local bar. The two arrived at the lab in an Enforcer squad car just minute before midnight.

"I must say, Feral my old friend, you could've been a general if you'd just stay in the army. It always bugged me that you'd rather be an Enforcer than a soldier. My impression is that you'd make a good one," Bobtail said while adjusting his cap.

"Perhaps," Feral remarked. "But I know this city needs help and help is what my Enforcers will give."

Bobtail snorted and said, "No offence, Feral, but I think the SWAT Kats seem to be doing a better job than your Enforcers are. You're a good leader but a good leader is nothing without competent troops."

"There are many situations that my Enforcers can handle. They only seem incompetent because those vigilantes keep getting in our way," Feral said indignantly.

"I understand your disapproval for vigilantism but I've been following the news. Seems to me that your Enforcers almost always have their tails handed to them by quite a number of odd villains. The SWAT Kats are almost always there to free you from sticky situations."

"The SWAT Kats are lawless vigilantes, nothing more. I see no reason for the deputy mayor to support them. Their actions are giving people the wrong idea that we're allowing anybody to dish out justice however they like."

"With a city like this, I think I'm all for street justice," Bobtail muttered.

Feral did not answer Bobtail. He was an Enforcer through and through and everything had to be done by the book. Still, he had to grudgingly acknowledge the many times the SWAT Kats helped the Enforcers pull through multiple dangerous situations. Recently, he gave the SWAT Kats a deep thought, something he had never done before. Now that he took the time to analyse the way they fight, something about them seemed rather familiar. He could not quite put a finger on it though and the sense of familiarity bothered him. Feral wondered if those two vigilantes were related to the two Enforcers he had discharged years ago.

"_It couldn't be them. Those two may be rebels but they're not criminals...are they?" _Feral wondered silently.

A couple of soldiers saluted the two when the passed by and while Bobtail returned the salute, Feral walked by without saluting. The two leaders decided to check the backside of the facility, making sure the laser fences were operational. The idea of laser fences were not new but it was a recently implemented technology with Megakat City being the first commercial user. Feral liked the idea but the power requirements were so ridiculous that more than half of the power supplying the labs were transferred to the fences to keep it online, rendering most internal security measures offline save for the ones in Delta Lab where the unfinished canisters of mutagen were stored and the repulsor fields. It did not matter much to the Enforcer commander because all windows and doors were covered by the repulsor fields. They used far less energy and are strong enough to stop even tank shells. His only main concern were the sewer systems.

"The military's given quite a lot of leeway for the Enforcers. You guys are perhaps the only organisation in this world that develops its own defences separate of the army," Bobtail said as he threw a pebble at the laser fence and watched it disintegrate in a bright flash.

"What can I say," Feral replied with a smile. "This city's a magnet for unsavoury kats, hell-bent on conquering the city."

"Conquering the city? If that's their only goal...they're awfully short-sighted. You know what they say: why be content with a city when you can conquer the world?"

"They're not all that smart," Feral said dismissively.

"For the likes of the Metallikats...maybe. But I can see Dark Kat being the only one ambitious enough to aim far and wide," Bobtail added.

"I can say the same for that bug-eyed freak Harley Street. He'd probably would want to turn every kat on earth into a ci-kat-a"

"It's unfortunate what happened to him though I suppose it's a risk scientists must face," Bobtail said and rubbed his furry chin. "Speaking of Harley, what happened to him?" he asked and turned his attention to Feral.

Feral shook his head and answered, "I don't know."

* * *

><p>While they continued their inspection of other parts of the lab, something had happened to the patrol groups that were tasked with guarding the sewer system. Three teams were supposed to patrol the north, west, and south parts of the massive sewer system but two teams had went missing. Alpha and Delta teams were supposed to check in half an hour ago but Omega team received only static. Then, one-by-one, the members of Omega team were picked off, quietly and swiftly. In the end, only the team's captain and his second-in-command were left. Not wanting an ambush to take them by surprise, they backed into a small room where the sewer flow controls were located. The captain quickly locked the door while his second-in-command kept a look out through a glass window.<p>

"Is the air in here breathable?" the captain asked.

"There's still some hydrogen sulphide but the air is mostly breathable," his second-in-command replied while consulting his handheld air analyser.

"Okay, what in the nine hells just happened to the teams?" the captain said and removed his helmet, revealing a brown tom with a scarred face. "Something is picking us off."

"Could possibly be a mutant," his aide replied without taking his eyes off the analyser. "The Biochemical Labs is known to dump wastes into the sewers. My theory is that some mutant inhabitant is picking us off."

"Heavens forbid that we're facing more than one. I can't get a distress signal out," said the captain. He twitched his nose as the smell of rotten eggs irritated him. "Conley, you got a signal booster with you?"

"Got one right here. Let me adjust – "

Conley stopped midsentence when the lights in the sewer went dark. Someone or something had cut power to the sewer. Years of training kept the two toms calm but the captain's hands were shaking with anxiety and a bit of fear. Their helmet-mounted lights were on but the captain was looking the other way. It was a fatal mistake because there was a sound of shattered glass followed by a scream. It was Conley and when the captain turned around to see what had happened to his second-in-command, he had disappeared. The place where he had stood a few seconds earlier was now full of glass. All that was left of Conley was his air analyser, its screen splattered with blood. The glass was no ordinary glass either. It was thick bullet-proof glass and something had shattered it with ease.

"Conley, are you alright?" the captain asked through the squad communications channel. "Sergeant Ben Conley, what's your status?"

Static.

"Shit...shit...shit," the captain muttered. He raised his weapon and started aiming at every source of noise he heard. His calmness was completely gone, replaced by overwhelming fear and desperation. Feigning bravery, he started shouting orders at whatever was hiding in the darkness to show itself. There was only silence save for the captain's loud breathing and even louder heartbeat. His position was compromised and there was no way to warn the other guards without the signal booster. There was only one option left: run for the nearest exit. Luckily for him, his local range scanner detected an exit not too far from where he was at.

The captain wasted no time thinking about his safety. He put on his helmet, opened the door, and made a mad dash for the exit. Adrenalin kept him from tiring out and his trigger finger was constantly hovering over the trigger of his assault rifle. The exit was just around the corner ahead but the way was blocked by a pile of rubble. It was recently made because bits and pieces of dirt and pebble still rolled down from the pile. "Are you kidding me?!" was the captain's only response to the situation. He did not want to turn back so he started rolling the rubble away. While he was clearing away the rubble, he did not notice something swimming in the dirty murky waters. A creature rose from it menacingly, its entire body shrouded by darkness but its eyes glowed brilliant red. In fact, they were so bright that it caught the attention of the captain.

His reaction was surprisingly quick and he spun around with his weapon safety off. His helmet light revealed a centipede-like creature with mandibles dripping with glowing green acid that sizzled when it came in contact with water. There was no time to analyse the creature and the captain opened fire at it immediately. It was such a large target that it was hard to miss but the bullets did no damage to it. On the contrary, his shots made the creature angry instead. It screeched and screamed as the captain peppered it with a hail of armour-piercing shots.

"_Go for the eyes, Max, go for the eyes!" _the captain thought.

With only two bullets left, he had to make the shots count. The creature spat a blob of acid at him but the captain leapt aside. He quickly adjusted his aim at the two bright red eyes and fired. His shots were spot on and the once brilliant eyes were reduced to bloody gore. The creature screamed in pain and flailed about violently, trying to hit its attacker. "That was for my men and the other teams!" Max shouted at it and high tailed from the area. He made a mistake of looking back while running because he ran right into something sharp. It took him a while to register what had happened and when he looked in front, he saw a smiling green kat with glowing yellow eyes. He looked down and saw that a large knife was in his chest.

"Animal cruelty isssss not tolerated," the kat said.

Max was too weak to fight back and he grunted in pain when the kat pulled out the knife. He fell onto the grimy floor and blood began to pool around him. The kat was not done with him though. He bent down and turned Max around so he faced the ceiling. Then, he removed Max's helmet and poured a vial of yellow green liquid into his open mouth.

"I'll see you in the lab in five minutesssss," the kat said and walked away, leaving Max to struggle with an overwhelming pain as his body began to twist and mutate.

* * *

><p>Back at the surface, an entirely different crisis was going on. Dark Kat had announced his presence and his creeplings assaulted the lab. His new weapon of war, an airship called <em>Dark Star<em>, was both a battleship and a carrier. The massive guns on the ship laid waste to the troops on the ground while his creeplings dropped to the ground as if performing an aerial invasion. Feral had not expected this and there was no proper anti-aircraft weapon available. Even for Dark Kat, attacking a biochemical lab with an aerial battleship was overkill though given that there was military presence, he was expecting heavy weapons and resistance. The sky was filled with unmanned drones that carried high-powered laser slicers. They made a hard situation even more difficult by providing close-air support for the creeplings on the ground. Not even the battle-hardened marines were able to deal with a horde of creeplings and drones. Feral had called for backup while hiding in a nearby tool shed along with his friend. It did not take long for reinforcements to arrive.

The Enforcers came with tanks, commandos with missile launchers, and Feral's favourite chopper backup. Even with reinforcement support, it was hard to fend off Dark Kat's minions and drones. The _Dark Star _ seemed to unleash an endless wave of drones and creeplings. Feral and Bobtail came out from the tool shed with weapons drawn and were immediately greeted by several creepling launching themselves at them. They tackled Feral and Bobtail to the ground and wrestled with them for leverage. Feral and Bobtail threw punches at some of the creeplings. It knocked them down for a while but they just shrugged off the pain, got back up, and continued the wrestle.

"Get them off me!" Bobtail exclaimed and took a shot at one of the creeplings.

The shot missed and one of the creeplings grabbed Bobtail's pistol and wrested it from his grasp. Another clubbed Bobtail in the head with a brick and knocked him out cold. Feral was knocked out too by the brick-wielding creepling. With the struggled ended, the victorious creeplings took the lab keys that were in Feral and Bobtail's pockets. After that, they tied them up and threw them into the tool shed before blocking the door with a heavy dumpster. The Enforcers and marines were too busy to notice that their leaders were out of commission. They continued engaging Dark Kat's airship and his army, all the while not noticing that the group of creeplings that had attacked Feral and Bobtail had snuck into the lab via a hole in the wall made by a stray rocket. So much for cheap and effective repulsor fields.

The _Dark Star _had made a hole in the roof so Dark Kat could enter the building as well. His personal jet took off from one of the launch bays and landed safely onto the roof. The Enforcer choppers attempted to intercept him but Dark Kat's laser drones kept them at bay. Dark Kat emerged from his jet with a smile of victory and satisfaction on his face. He found it a pleasant surprise that the SWAT Kats had not responded to the situation. Normally, they would be on scene in a snap but their absence was a welcome change though Dark Kat remained cautious for ambushes.

"Secure Delta Lab now," Dark Kat said to his minions.

Delta Lab was located in the north wing of the building and the entrance was at the second floor so he had to walk for a bit. By the time he reached the entrance, a couple of his creeplings were already there waiting for him.

"Good. Open the lab doors so I can get my claws on the mutagen."

The lock system required two keys to be turned simultaneously so two creeplings took positions at each side of the entrance. They inserted the keys into the locks and turned at the same time. The sound of clicking locks filled the corridor and the doors slid open silently. Dark Kat entered the lab and his creeplings followed close behind. Finding the mutagen was easy because there were canisters of them in there, each labelled with a serial number and a test result sheet. Dark Kat found the latest test batch in a class locker. A simple swing of the fist the glass locker shattered. Just when he was about to grab the vials of orange liquids, he heard a loud bang followed by the sound of a bullet ricocheting off the edge of the glass locker, close to where his hand was. Dark Kat growled and turned to see who did that and his eyes met with the eyes of Dr. Viper. He had a smoking pistol in his hand and behind him were several bulky kat mutants with guns in their hands.

"I believe you're about to take what is mine, Dark Kat," Dr. Viper hissed.

"You meddlesome fool. I was here first!" Dark Kat said angrily. "I'm giving you five seconds to clear this place before I have my creeplings deal with you and your mutants."

"You can't order me around. We're not in the Alliance of Evil anymore and I don't have to listen to you," Dr. Viper countered as he pointed his pistol at Dark Kat.

"I'm not giving you a choice, Dr. Viper. The fact is that I was here first and I had the keys."

"And you did me a favour by opening the doors. Your work is finished; mine has only begun so _you _should clear this place."

His mutants raised their weapons at Dark Kat and the creeplings took it as a threat to their master. Without orders from Dark Kat, they attacked Dr. Viper and his mutants and pushed them away from the exit. In that brief moment, Dark Kat took the vials and ran. Dr. Viper saw Dark Kat headed his way and stuck out his tail so the large kat tripped over it. The vials fell from Dark Kat's hand and the contents splashed onto several of the creeplings. They writhed and howled in pain before falling onto the floor and laid there motionless. They did not move and Dark Kat thought they were dead.

"No! Those were the only latest samples!" Dark Kat exclaimed. "You'll pay for that!"

Dr. Viper tried to shoot Dark Kat but he slapped the pistol out of Viper's grip and wrapped his claws around his neck. Viper countered by reaching into his lab coat pocket and retrieved a test tube full of acid. He smacked the tube at Dark Kat's face. The glass shattered and acid bathed Dark Kat's face. He let go of Dr. Viper's neck, covering his face while screaming in pain.

While the two and their respective minions fought in a melee, none of them noticed the seemingly dead creeplings that were splashed with the incomplete mutagen began to stir. As they got back onto their feet, they began growling like a feral dog. Their teeth grew even sharper and their wings started to mutate into crude hands with sharp claws. The skin on their bodies split and fell off, revealing a blood-covered bat-like hulking creature with thick muscles. It was only when one of them snarled that Dark Kat and Dr. Viper stopped their fighting.

"This is fascinating," Dr. Viper said with a gleam in his eyes. "These are very good results for an unfinissssshed mutagen. Mutants, seize him!" he commanded and pointed at Dark Kat.

He thought he had control over them but the mutated creeplings attacked him, Dark Kat, the other creeplings, and Dr. Viper's mutants instead. They were extremely tenacious and ferocious, filled with bloodlust and the will to kill. Even when Dr. Viper's hulking mutants had larger bodies, the mutant creeplings took them down easily and tore them to bloody bits in a few seconds. When they opened their mouths, orange liquids dripped from their teeth. They proceeded to bite the other creeplings. The mutant creeplings attempted to bite Dark Kat and Dr. Viper as well but Dark Kat fended them off. Dr. Viper was not so lucky and he was bitten in the tail.

Dark Kat ran for the roof, determined to escape before he too became the next victim. However, upon reaching the roof, he saw his personal jet was up in flames. Hovering above the jet was the Turbokat and in front of the burning jet wreck was Razor, one of the SWAT Kats.

"Looks like we're late for the party," Razor said. "How about we make it up to you by taking you down here and now?" he added and did a battle-ready stance.

"I don't think you want to do that, SWAT Kat. I'm not the real problem right now," Dark Kat said calmly.

The answer caught Razor off guard and he lowered his fists slightly. Before he could ask for an explanation, two mutant creeplings broke through the roof and charged at Dark Kat and Razor. Dark Kat sidestepped and allowed one of them to run past him. With a quick kick to the back, he sent the mutant creepling flying into an air conditioning unit. The other creepling latched its claws onto Razor's uniform and opened its mouth to bite him. Razor responded by pointing his glovatrix at it and fired an octopus missile. The missile pushed it backwards and Razor got back onto his feet.

"Alright, Dark Kat, what're you pulling off?" Razor asked and turned his attention towards him.

"I'm not pulling off any tricks."

"I don't believe you."

"You don't have to believe me; you already saw it for yourself. I'll give you my advice just this once, SWAT Kat, get away from here before you get into trouble."

As if on cue. more mutant creeplings burst through the roof. There were more of them now and Dark Kat knew what had happened but said nothing about it. He reached for a remote control in his pocket and pressed it. Moments later, a jet from his airship swooped down. It fired a few shots at the Turbokat, making T-Bone veer away. The jet landed onto the roof and Dark Kat climbed into it.

"Have fun cleaning up the mess," he said and took off.

"Hey buddy," T-Bone called out to his friend via the communicator. You need my help taking those freaks?"

"You go get Dark Kat. I can handle his goons," Razor responded.

With that, T-Bone flew after Dark Kat's jet, leaving Razor to face five mutant creeplings. He had taken them on before. They were not that smart nor were they strong but these ones were totally different. They had little resemblance to the usual creeplings and looked a lot more grotesque and with wider mouths. They were a lot larger too and had the height of a young kat. Dark Kat certainly did something to them but Razor could not understand why they attacked him as well. Instead of attacking Razor one-by-one, the mutant creeplings all charged at him with claws outstretched. Using his superior agility, Razor dodged and sidestepped attempted attacks while dishing out some punishment of his own. Besides several octopus missiles, Razor loaded some rubber rounds in them. He took aim at the closest mutant creepling and fired at it. The rubber bullets impacted it and knocked it off balance.

While Razor was engaged with two of them, one of the mutants snuck around him and ambushed him from behind. It leapt onto Razor's back and held him tightly. It tried to bite his head but Razor stopped it with his right forearm. Its teeth sunk deep into his flesh and Razor cried out in pain. He tried to shake off the creepling but it only bit down harder. The others swarmed over him and threatened to rip him apart but the timely intervention of T-Bone saved Razor from becoming creepling chow. T-Bone fired the cement machine gun at them and the quick drying cement shots knocked them back, including the one latched onto Razor's forearm. Its teeth made three bloody tear wounds and blood flowed from them like a stream of red, dripping onto the roof and making small blood pools.

"Dark Kat got away with his airship," T-Bone said in a disappointed tone. "It's a good thing I turned around fast enough to save you. You alright, bud?"

"That thing did a number on me," Razor answered and winced in pain. He held his wounded forearm with his good hand. "It's gonna need stitches. Nice shooting by the way."

T-Bone landed the Turbokat and quickly leapt out of the cockpit so he could take a look at his friend's wounds. There was a medical kit in the cockpit but it had only basic medical supplies to treat minor wounds. The lacerations were rather bad and Razor needed proper medical attention. He felt a burning sensation coming from the wounds and saw blood and some unknown orange goo exuding from it. It was disgusting to look at. There was a hospital nearby and T-Bone wasted no time brining his friend there. The best he could do for the time being was to quickly apply some iodine and bandage the wound.

When the commotion had died down, Enforcers and army personnel were all over the place. The lab was locked down tight and the dead bodies in the building were brought out. Feral and Bobtail were freed from the tool shed and the two were there to oversee the post-battle cleanup work. An army general was there as well and no doubt he was clearly incensed over the attack.

"You should've known better, Colonel Bobtail," the general said angrily. "I've already told you that Megakat City is a dangerous place with dangerous villains. I told you beforehand to deploy heavy weapons in case of situations like this! This is not some cheap million-credit white elephant project the government loves so much! Do you know what those spilt mutagen mean? It means 90 million credits wasted and the work has been set back by 2 years! Now the scientists need to start over from scratch! And you, Ulysses Feral," the general then turned his attention to Feral. "I hold you equally responsible for this goddamn mess. The military didn't give the Enforcers leeway in defence research just for them to not be used. And for fuck's sake can you please make your Enforcers a little more competent?!"

"With all due respect, sir, I think my Enforcers are – "

"Are what? Competent and ready for action all the time? We've been turning a blind eye to the multiple failures of the Enforcers, trusting your knowledge and experience as commander to steer them in the right direction eventually. The army didn't form the Enforcers to train a group of donut-eating toms with oversized weapons! I've been keeping a close eye on your actions for the past few years, Feral, and I first started doubting your leadership capabilities when you dismissed Corporal Jake Clawson and Sergeant Chance Furlong. I know what happened that day."

"That was an error in judgement that I truly regret."

"Oh, really now? The biggest problem with you, Feral, is that you're inflexible and that is the primary reason for the failure of the Enforcers. I will credit you for being well-intentioned but you fail in the art of war. You know very well that the enemies of Megakat City are highly unorthodox. In the military academy, I taught you to do things by the book but I also taught you to be flexible in tactics and strategies when the need arises. Need I say more?"

"No...sir. I understand what you're trying to tell me."

"I'm not _trying _ to tell you something, Feral. I'm _telling _ you straight up that you need to change the way you lead the Enforcers. You were always a thick-headed tom, you know that? Sometimes I ask myself why I even voted for you to become commander of the Enforcers. Here's one last piece of advice I'm ever going to give you. Be flexible. There is a reason why some of your Enforcers, your niece included, go against your orders. If they make a good point, listen to them for crying out loud. The Enforcers are nothing without a commander and the commander is useless without the Enforcers. Two-way communications and compromise goes a long way. Do you understand me?"

"I understand, sir."

"Good," the general muttered and let out a sigh while rubbing his temples as if he was having a headache. "This mess is gonna cause a big hoo-ha in the Homeland Security and Defence Departments and there's definitely a lot of paperwork to be done."

"Is there any way I can help the situation, general?" Feral asked.

"Yes, there is. I need you to conduct an investigation, find out how exactly Dark Kat got to know about this secret project. We've been pretty tight-lipped about this so it should be next to impossible for word to get out. My guess is that there's a traitor. Once you have the report and evidences ready, I need you to come over to the Nexus to present your findings to the Board of Generals. Be sure you have a competent stand-in ready by then. I don't trust Steele," said the general.

"I'll see to it at once."

The general nodded his head and said nothing else. He stayed in the premise for a while and went to inspect Delta Lab. Feral and Bobtail on the other hand checked on the dead mutants. They were horrified to find out that the tall and muscular mutants bore bits and pieces of clothing from the squads that went missing in the sewers. Mutants usually meant Dr. Viper was present but none of them saw the half-snake kat. Feral then wondered if Dark Kat and Viper were working together and made a mental note to investigate possible alliances between the two.

There was much to do and even more controversy to deal with but the attack on the biochemical labs was only the beginning to bigger problems.

* * *

><p><em>AN: SWAT Kats was one of my favourite childhood cartoons along with Gargoyles, Animaniacs (cheeky cartoon that one) and many others. This isn't my first time writing fanfics (I had an older account which I forgotten the username and password) but it is my first time writing a SWAT Kats fanfic. Never got around to writing it until now. I'm actually glad to see quite a number of SWAT Kat fans here. Before settling on the idea of Red Moon Rising, I had other ideas for a SWAT Kat fanfic including time travel to the past that takes place during the Old West period (yep, Razor and T-Bone as masked riders), Pumadyne working on a teleportation device that linked hell to Megakat City, and another time travel idea involving Razor and T-Bone fighting in Megawar II in propeller planes. Feel free to suggest which idea I should pursue next after I finish Red Moon Rising. I apologise for any continuity and/or grammatical and spelling errors. I strive to make my fics as perfect as possible so you guys don't cringe when reading them. I welcome constructive criticisms but leave the fuel and fire behind._

_Yours sincerely, Arclight-Zero_


	2. Chapter 1

**SWAT Kats: Red Moon Rising**

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: The Eastside Creatures<p>

* * *

><p><em>As the military and Enforcers continue cleanup operations at the Megakat Biochemical Labs, many questions remain unanswered and General Milton has refused to comment on the situation. He said that it was an unprovoked attack by Dark Kat and Dr. Viper and vowed to take action against them 'as soon as possible'. This may mark the first time where the military has decided to intervene in an otherwise Enforcer-only task. More to come this evening. This is Ann Gora from Kats Eye News reporting live at Megakat Biochemical Labs.<em>

It was a quiet afternoon at the salvage yard and so far, Jake and Chance had only two cars to fix. Normally, it would be an easy task but with Jake having injured his arm the previous night, Chance had to do most of the work. Despite how much his friend insisted in helping, he refused to let him push himself lest he accidentally reopen the wounds. They were thankful that last night, the doctor on duty decided to treat the wounds free of charge. It turned out that the duo had once saved his son in a hostage situation and from that day on, he decided to repay the favour. The two did not really like the idea of a free treatment but since the doctor insisted, they took up the offer. So far, the antiseptic-and-stitches treatment was holding up and Jake seemed healthy enough but the doctor had advised them to return if things went bad. Chance had a feeling it would go bad because they did not tell the doctor how Jake got the wounds. They felt that they would reveal too much if they told the whole story.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Jake asked.

"For the last time, Jake, I'll be fine. General Milton's car has only a minor hiccup in the engine. Easily fixed," Chance replied without taking his eyes off the engine.

"Can't say the same for the other car," said Jake while gesturing at a red sedan. "I checked it and it looks like it needs an engine overhaul. I dunno how one can drive an old jalopy."

"Just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it. You rest your arm until it's fully healed."

"Are you – "

"Yes, I am."

Jake had no choice but to sit down on a chair and watch his friend work. He hated sitting around doing nothing but Chance had a point. If he tried to strain his wounded arm, it would tear open. It nearly did so an hour ago when Jake tried to lift a barrel of oil, the bandages started turning red with blood. Better not push it, thought Jake. While watching his friend fix the general's car, he felt rather hungry. It was odd because the two just had two large pieces of steak for lunch. Papa Toni's steak could usually last them until dinner but it was only half past noon. Jake thought nothing about the sudden hunger but instead, he remembered a large piece of meatloaf that was in the refrigerator. As much as he wanted to eat it, he could not bring himself to grab a piece because the meatloaf was supposed to be for Meatloaf Friday and that was a day later. Maybe Chance would not mind if he took only a small piece.

"Hey, uh, Chance, I'm feeling a little hungry so...um...I hope you don't mind me taking...um...a bite out of the meatloaf?" Jake asked in a cautious tone?

"The meatloaf?" Chance repeated while looking at his friend. "We just had a lunch at Papa Toni's and you're still hungry?"

"Yeah, kinda odd eh, heh," Jake muttered and rubbed his wounded arm as it seemed to be itching badly.

"Dude, it's supposed to be for Meatloaf Friday. You know how much time we took to prepare this. We're supposed to eat a whole meatloaf on Friday."

"C'mon, Chance, it's only a small piece!"

Seeing how desperate Jake seemed, Chance relented and allowed his friend to take a piece of the meatloaf. Secretly, he decided to take note on Jake's sudden hunger. There was no way to be sure whether or not it was because of the bite but Chance was no scientist so he could not say for sure. Still, Jake was never a heavy eater and it was rather odd. With Chance's permission, Jake helped himself to a slice of meatloaf as promised but it was not enough to sate his hunger. As much as he wanted to eat more, he forced himself to put away the meatloaf before his hunger can take over his urges. After closing the refrigerator, Jake settled down on the couch and decided to sleep, hoping that when he wakes up, it would be time for dinner. He tried to sleep but the hunger in him gnawed at his mind like a sentient voice. He tossed and turned on the couch but could never find a comfortable position to sleep. To make things worse, the itch in his wounds was worsening and he felt compelled to scratch it. But to scratch it meant risking open wounds. Jake felt so frustrated that he punched on a couch pillow as if tenderising a piece of meat. To his surprise and horror, he punched so hard that his fist went through the pillow and into the couch. His knuckle actually felt the cotton and springs in it. Jake quickly pulled his hand out and stared at the hole. He slowly turned to look at his fist before looking back at the hole again. There was no way a normal kat could do that, not even the fittest bodybuilder. Questions ran through Jake's mind like a train but no thought could be given to any of it as the emergency communicator sounded. He quickly took his mind off the hole in the pillow and the couch and retrieved the communicator that was on the table.

"Go ahead, Miss Briggs," Jake answered in his usual voice.

"SWAT Kats, there's a situation at the Eastside Docks. Feral has told me that there are unidentified assailants and a couple of Enforcer squads have gone missing. I need you to help check things out," Deputy mayor Callie Briggs said.

"A couple of squads? How many are we talking?"

"Three or four squads at least. It was supposed to be a raid on a possible catnip storage location. Also, a group of marines had apparently decided to help but even they did not report in."

"That's a lot of Enforcers and marines gone missing. We'll be there in a flash."

After Jake turned off the communicator, he quickly burst out of the office to inform his friend about the situation. He decided to leave out the detail about how he made a hole in the couch so as not to raise any alarms. Chance again wanted Jake to stay put but the auburn tom was rather adamant about going on a mission. In order to protect the wound, Jake retrieved a tough leather bracer and slipped it onto his wounded hand. Once it was properly secured, he put on his suit and slipped on the glovatrix. With their suits and masks on, Jake and Chance were now Razor and T-Bone respectively. The two leapt into the Turbokat and took off to the Eastside Docks.

* * *

><p>Even though she was deputy mayor, Callie Briggs preferred to do hands-on work rather than sit in the office and complete a mountain of paperwork. She detested paperwork and it only fuelled her dislike with the addition of Mayor Manx's own. Callie swore Manx never did his own work since election, opting to play golf with some important kat instead. Said it was a 'business procurement negotiation' but she knew better. While Manx was the mayor, the employees in the mayor's office liked Callie more. Many thought she should have been mayor but she always declined to take up the post, citing her lack of experience in governance. She was indeed still a young kat but with practically all of Manx's decision-making being forced into her face, Callie was quick to gain experience. She could not believe that eight years ago, she was only an inexperienced office clerk under the employ of Mayor Callahan, a more competent mayor in her opinion. To rise from a humble office clerk to deputy mayor within eight years was unheard of and it was no doubt a big deal. If she were mayor now, she would be the youngest in Megakat City history at the age of 29. To be out in the city was always a refreshing change but more often than not, her excursions usually end with some sort of crisis engineered by one of the not-so-usual villains. Today was a slight exception because while there was indeed a crisis, it was not committed by any major villain. They would have made themselves known at the first chance they get as if they liked gloating about what they do. Callie was standing next to Feral with her arms crossed. They were outside the docks perimeter and all entryways were sealed off and guarded. The presence of a large number of Enforcers eventually attracted the press and the first to arrive on scene was Ann Gora and her trusty cameraman.<p>

"I can't say for sure what happened to them but I'm not about to send more Enforcers in. Every time I send one squad in, they go missing and the squad sent to look for them also go missing," Feral answered Ann Gora when she asked him the situation.

"And how many squads have gone missing since you arrive here?" Ann Gora asked and held her portable microphone in front of the commander.

"Four squads," Feral said while held up four fingers, "and one marine squad," he added and raised one more finger to make a five.

"How do you intend to solve the situation if you're not going to send more Enforcers?"

"We've received a new shipment of unmanned drones from our R&D department. They should help discover the problem without putting any lives in danger. Whoever's behind this will not escape. I have all entryways blocked and patrol boats are guarding the docks."

Ann Gora nodded her head and turned her attention to Callie. "What do you think of the situation, deputy mayor?"

"I have no comment at the moment. Things seem to be under control for the time being but the Enforcers will continue to monitor the situation," Callie answered. She then turned to look at the Enforcer that was controlling the drone with a portable console. "At least they have something practical for a change," she muttered.

The new unmanned drone patrolled the now empty docks, its multi-spectrum camera swivelled in all directions while mapping out the place and constructing a three dimensional map for the operator. The Jaguar rescue and assault drone had been in service for years but Feral never used them extensively. Originally, it had only a 360-degree high definition camera and short-range sonar array for scouting purposes but later upgrades included a low velocity grenade launcher and a frag gun (also known as a shotgun). Its high-grade Katalyst armour could withstand small to medium calibre rounds as well as deflect some laser fire but anything larger than a 6.4mm round would deal damage to it. Unlike many unmanned drones used by the military, the Enforcer's Jaguar drone had spiderlike legs instead of tracks, giving it greater mobility than the military's Puma. It resembled a scorpion with the camera mounted on its tail and the two weapons were in the place of the claws. Feral did not like the design but it grew on his subordinates.

When the lone drone reached a junction, its sonar picked up some movement near an abandoned warehouse. The operator quickly turned the camera towards the source of the anomaly but found himself staring at a boarded up door. There was nothing unusual there, not even a single telltale sign that something had been there. Satisfied that the area was clear, the operator steered the drone away to another location, unaware that something was watching it from the shadows between two warehouses. It was not long before the drone stumbled upon a warehouse door that was slightly ajar. It was swinging softly, its rusty hinges creaking as the sea breeze stirred the door. The young kat looked at Feral, waiting for him to grant him permission to enter. Feral nodded his head once and the operator directed the drone through the entryway. Before it could enter, the onboard microphones caught the sound of jet engines behind it. That could only mean one thing.

"SWAT Kats," Feral growled. The drone turned around just in time to see Razor and T-Bone leap out of the cockpit. At first, they took no notice of it as their attention was directed towards their surroundings. After making sure that everything was clear, T-Bone noticed the scorpion drone and waved at it. Feral got hold of the operator's headphones and turned on the communicator. "Get away from there, SWAT Kats, the Enforcers will handle this!" he said and his voice emerged from the drone.

"Sending in one little robot? I think not, Feral," T-Bone answered. "Besides, I'm sure you're gonna need our help. Don't mind us tagging along eh."

"Your drone looks like it could use some company too," Razor added with a smirk.

Feral bared his teeth. He wanted to rebuke the two vigilantes for interfering in his job but when he recalled what General Milton said last night, he grumbled and forced himself to swallow his pride.

"Fine, you can tag along but any funny business from you and I won't hesitate to have you two arrested," Feral said in a low and dangerous voice. "You two ought to be careful. Something's taken out a couple of my Enforcer squads and a marine squad. We don't know who'se behind this yet," he said. He could not believe that he was actually briefing them on the situation. Knowing that Ann Gora was still there, he turned around and said to her "this is strictly off the record".

T-Bone, Razor, and the drone entered the warehouse. It was dark inside and not even the emergency lights were on. Only the sunlight from outside lit up limited areas of the warehouse with many more places still hidden in darkness. Before any of them could activate their flashlights, the SWAT Kats detected a strong metallic smell. It was the unmistakable smell of blood. T-Bone and Razor were unnerved but the drone could not smell so the operator was unaware of the situation until Razor mentioned about it.

"This can't be good," Callie muttered, her expression changing from calm indifference to a look of concern.

"If anything happens to them, I'll make sure whoever's behind this will pay," Feral remarked with a clenched fist.

"Let's light this place up," Razor said.

T-Bone and Razor turned on a flashlight mounted on their helmets while the drone's camera switched from normal vision to night vision. They soon came to regret it because the light beams unveiled a horrific scene that seemed to come straight out of a slasher film. Hanging from the wooden rafters of the warehouse were heavily mutilated bodies belonging to the missing Enforcers and the marines. All of them were hung by their right leg, some bodies had missing heads while the others had parts of their bodies torn off in a violent manner. The floor was a large blood pool mixed with the innards of the poor kats who had their abdomens ripped to shreds. On the ground was a body pile with a stake sticking out in the middle. It pierced through the rear end of an unfortunate marine and the tip came out through his mouth. The marine's face wore a permanent expression of a shocking and painful death, his glazed eyes staring at the ceiling. Ann Gora reeled back at the sight, horrified beyond her wildest imagination. Callie felt weak in her knees and her hands covered her mouth. Feral uttered 'by the gods' while his operator's hand was trembling, his mouth slightly ajar. Through the speakers connected to the console, everyone present heard T-Bone mutter something incoherent but Razor was silent. He too was horrified but he felt something else in him besides horror and disgust. It was unexplainable and at the same time, a burning sensation engulfed his wounded hand.

"By all that's holy," T-Bone said softly. "T-this isn't what I've expected. Feral...I...what should we do?"

The question came as a surprise to the commander. This was the first time he actually heard a SWAT Kat asking him for advice.

"Stay calm. Whoever did this could still be around. Be on your guard, I'll be sending in some Enforcers to back you up," Feral replied in a surprisingly calm voice.

"That'd be appreciated. C'mon Razor, let's go," T-Bone said to his friend.

"Y-yeah. Let's...split up," Razor said with a quiver in his voice.

T-Bone turned to glare at his friend and said, "Are you nuts?! I'm not about to be skinned alive by some psycho kat! Gods forbid there're more than one of them."

When he saw that his friend had bolted off into the darkness with his light turned off, it raised alarms in his mind. Razor was not acting rational and now, he was left alone with the drone. At least it was some comfort knowing that Feral was backing him. T-Bone liked action but it would be a stupid thing to do if he just ran into the unknown with cold-blooded killers on the loose. He suggested to Feral that they back off to a safe place but when he turned around, T-Bone saw the door slam shut and the sound of keys locking the door filled him with fear. He rushed towards the door and started turning the knob but it was as he feared. It was locked. Slamming the door proved futile as it would not budge.

"_Some catnip storage this turned out to be," _he thought to himself while kicking the door as hard as he could. Then, an idea came to his mind. "Feral, do you think you can shoot down the door with that drone cannon of yours?"

"It's a grenade launcher," Feral corrected. "I'll try but there's only one shot in it."

"Make it count."

The operator had the drone take aim at the door knob but before he had the chance to fire off the grenade, the entire console screen burst into static and the red words _Drone Unit Destroyed _appeared on the screen. He was speechless. For a while, everyone was silent until Feral drew a pistol and crossed the police line.

"Commander Feral, where're you going?!" Callie exclaimed with a hand outstretched as if to stop him.

"Someone in there needs my help and I'm not about to let some Megakat Asylum inmate nut kill him. Enforcer Squad Omega, you're with me!" Feral shouted in an authoritative voice.

Back at the warehouse, T-Bone found himself staring at a pair of red eyes that belonged to an unseen creature that was clearly two heads taller than him. For some reason, his flashlight had sputtered out, leaving him to face the thing in almost complete darkness. The light shining through the windows did not land on the creature so he had no idea what it was. What T-Bone did know was that the creature was breathing hard and he could smell something rotten coming from it, probably the smell of its mouth after eating corpses. The creature had taken out the drone just before it could fire and the lone SWAT Kat wondered if it knew what the drone was about to do. Even after so many bizarre missions, this one still scared him. Not even the giant mummy commandos of Katchu Picchu could top this creature in terms of striking fear into him. He had to survive and that meant fighting, even if the odds seemed to stack against him. _Seemed to_, because T-Bone had no idea of the creature's strengths or weaknesses but he assumed it would be stronger than he is. He pointed his glovatrix at the pair of red eyes and fired a new type of missile called the tazer missile. It worked exactly like how a tazer would work but the jolts lasted a shorter period of time than the tazer darts from a handheld device.

The creature dodged the missile swiftly and utilising the cover of darkness, it ambushed T-Bone from the side, knocking him into a pillar. The force of impact shuddered the rafters in turn made the bodies move a little. He got back to his feet, his back aching but flowing adrenaline dulled the pain. The creature was there, right in front of him, standing there as if waiting for him to make the first move. The pair of red eyes was unblinking and it seemed to stare right through his soul.

"Alright you ugly creep, you wanna tussle with a SWAT Kat? Let T-Bone show you some butt-kicking kat fu," he said angrily in an attempt to make himself more confident and less scared.

Of course, it was a stupid thing to say because the creature seemed to understand his threat. It launched at T-Bone again but this time, he managed to dodged the attack and the creature slammed into the wall face first. Not letting up the offensive, he fired another tazer missile at the creature. This time, it hit home and the missile embedded itself into the skin of the creature and gave it several good jolts. Each jolt elicited a howl of pain that sounded like a cross between the cry of a normal kat and that of wolf. T-Bone was about to finish off the creature with a saw blade launcher when something smacked him hard in back of his head. He had his helmet on but even the blow was powerful enough to knock him out cold for a while.

When he came to, T-Bone found himself leaning against the wall with Commander Feral and Callie Briggs standing in front of him. Apparently, they were outside and the light of the sun shone right at his eyes. He rubbed the back of his head and groaned a bit.

"Man...feels like somebody planted a sledgehammer right in the back," T-Bone said softly.

"You're lucky my Enforcers came in time. Otherwise you'd end up like the rest in that warehouse," Feral said.

"I suppose I have you to thank for," said the tabby tom while getting back onto his feet. "Especially for not pulling off my mask," he added after making sure that it was still there.

"Trust me, I'm tempted to," Feral muttered.

"What happened in there, T-Bone? Where's Razor?" Callie asked in a worried tone.

"Wish I could tell you more, Miss Briggs. All I know is that Razor ran off into the darkness without any explanation and I was attacked by more than one...things in there," T-Bone answered.

"You mean those large kat-like creatures with long claws and bright red eyes?" Feral asked. When he saw T-Bone giving him a look of confusion, he said, "We caught sight of one after we broke down the door but I think there's more than one in there."

"No kidding. I was facing one of them when another took me out. Could've been kat chow if you hadn't arrive earlier," T-Bone remarked.

Just then, a voice came through Feral's walkie-talkie. It was his niece Felina and she had some good news.

"I've found Razor. He seems alright but he's shirtless. No signs of wounds on his body and his breathing is steady," Felina reported. "His mask...is surprisingly still on."

"Good work. Bring him back to safety."

When they brought Razor back out to the daylight, he was limp and Felina had to get two Enforcers to hold him up and escort him out of the warehouse. Like Felina mentioned, Razor's mask was still on and perfectly intact but his flight suit was mostly torn. The lower part of his flight suit was torn in many parts as if some large creature had scratched it all over while the upper part was completely gone. Only bits of it hung limp above the belt. T-Bone quickly rushed to his friend's side while he was being placed down onto a waiting stretcher. Callie, Feral, and Felina thought it odd that Razor was completely unharmed despite having his flight suit torn nearly to pieces by the creatures. Feral's eyes wandered to the bandages on Razor's hand and saw that it was soaked red with blood. He let out a low 'hmm' and scratched his chin. His niece and Callie Briggs joined T-Bone in trying to wake Razor up but Feral stayed back to examine the unconscious SWAT Kat. He sized up his body and noticed something familiar about the build of Razor's body and the colour of his fur. Feral might be stubborn towards change and flexibility but he had a sharp mind. Still, despite some rather familiar things about Razor, Feral refused to jump to conclusions.

"_I think I need to pay those two a visit," _he thought.

An Enforcer medic nearby knelt beside Razor and took out a jet injector from his medical kit. It contained stimulants enough to wake even the heaviest of sleepers but the dosage was low enough so that it does not cause one to become overly high. The medic injected the stimulant and waited. After a minute, Razor slowly opened his eyes and blinked slowly. He seemed dazed at first but was quick to recover from it. T-Bone helped him up to his feet and Razor had to steady himself a bit before he could stand straight properly.

"How...how'd I get out here?" Razor muttered.

"You tell me," T-Bone said with arms crossed. "You ran off into the darkness after saying you wanted to split up."

"Yeah, I-I think I remember saying that we split up but I can't...remember anything after that. Did I really run off somewhere?"

"Run off somewhere? Dude, you just ran right into a nest of lunatics!"

"I survived, didn't I?" Razor said and examined his body. "Must've gave them a good butt-whooping while I was out cold. Maybe I'm that badass," he said jokingly with a grin.

Razor may be trying to joke but no one else was laughing. At least he was alright and T-Bone was happy about it. The Enforcers made a rapid sweep of the area but aside from the brief glimpse of the creature they saw when they broke down the door, there were no other encounters anymore. Seeing that the situation was calm and the area safe, Feral had the bodies cleared. Such an incident would definitely make headlines in tonight's news and the loss of a marine squad would attract the attention of the military. Feral knew he had many things to answer for and the deputy mayor wanted a damage report on her desk. At this point, a damage report would be a formality instead of something essential. Megakat City has experienced so much damage so many times that a million-dollar damage seemed like any other trivial damages caused every day. It would not last long though because a year back, the Federal Parliament has decided that the City Hall would pay its own damages and the recent economic downturn would not help the city's coffers. Callie had sent Feral a memo before, stating that she wanted Feral to take firm action against 'high threat' criminals like Dark Kat. People were tired of paying for damages and losses every time and the tax money could be used for something useful. With the situation at the docks seemingly resolved, Feral allowed the SWAT Kats to leave, much to the pleasant surprise of Felina and Callie. As the Turbokat took off, Felina approached her scowling uncle and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You did the right thing," Felina said softly. "At least they are free to help us fight another day."

"I hope I did. Felina, I'd like you to accompany me to the salvage yard tomorrow. There's something I'd like to do," said the commander.

"What'd you have in mind?"

"Oh nothing too important. I just want to check on those two disgraced Enforcers Jake Clawson and Chance Furlong."

"Is that it? What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing wrong, Felina," Feral answered. "Just making sure they're not hiding anything from me."

* * *

><p><em>In what Deputy Mayor Callie Briggs called a 'total disregard for life', the murders at Eastside docks has sparked a city-wide kat hunt for possible suspects responsible for the deaths of over a dozen Enforcers and seven marines. Citizens are told to keep on the lookout for dangerous-looking kats and contact Enforcers should they see anything suspicious. Commander of the Enforcers, Ulysses Feral, has advised all citizens to not attempt anything that would provoke the suspects. In other news, workers demolishing an abandoned building have found a mysterious wall chicken.<em>

* * *

><p>By the time T-Bone and Razor made it back to the salvage yard, General Milton was in the office waiting for them. It was already four in the evening. Two military police kats stood guard outside the office with their weapons drawn. When they saw Jake and Chance approach the office, the two MPs allowed them to pass and enter the office. General Milton was reading a magazine and he raised his head when he heard the office door open.<p>

"Ah, there you two toms are," the general said with a smile. "Had an emergency to respond to?"

"Yes sir," Jake answered quickly. "An old lady's car broke down and we had to do some roadside repairs."

"Yeah, did it free of charge too," Chance added.

The general seemed to buy their alibi. "That's mighty chivalrous of you two. I suppose you fixed my car too?"

"It's good to go. Just a minor problem with the fan belt and carburettor. Other than that, your car's in pretty good shape, sir," Chance said while showing the general to his car.

One of the MPs took the keys from Chance and started up the car. There were no odd sounds coming from it and the general nodded his head in satisfaction. After paying the two mechanic toms, the general entered the car and wound down the window.

"Oh, before I go, I had a little talk with Feral last night. I hope he won't be giving you two any hard time in the near future," said the elderly kat.

"So...does that mean we can get pardoned?" Jake asked in a hopeful tone. "I'm sure it wasn't our fault that Enforcer HQ was damaged."

"Oh don't you toms worry about it. I have knew about the incident but I can only advise Feral. Whether or not he'll reinstate you back into the Enforcers is entirely up to him. It is not the military's business to decide on Enforcer decisions"

"Oh bummer," Chance muttered. "Here I was, thinking that we can finally stop paying for something we didn't do."

The general chuckled a bit and said, "You two take it easy. Even if Feral doesn't reinstate you, at least I hope he treats you and the rest of the Enforcers better. Now, I really must leave to attend to some important matters."

The general's car left the salvage yard and the two stood there for a bit to watch the car make a turn at a junction. After that, it disappeared behind a building. There was only the red car left but the owner said he would not be back in a few days so Chance decided to leave it be for a while. Given that there were no other customers coming in, the two decided to take it easy for a bit. It was too early for any after-hour shows so Chance brought out a couple of _Katastrophe Kronikles _movie DVDs to watch. Jake had masterfully hidden the hole in the couch by covering it with a new pillow and sat next to it so his friend would not find out about it. The tabby tom did not suspect a thing and the two spent the rest of the day watching their movie.

* * *

><p><em>AN: 5 reviews for one chapter. I'm really happy for that and you have my thanks! I appreciate more reviews and suggestions so keep it coming. As usual, I apologise for any typos, grammar mistakes, or continuity errors and OOC-ness._

_Roller77: Thanks for liking it! By the way, you got some rather interesting stories. Good read._

_NenkotaMoon: I try to be different. It's nice to write something non-mainstream for a change._

_Guest: Thanks for liking it!_

_Cyberkat: I really, really appreciate your input. Will Razor be saved? Tune in to find out! Feral will definitely be an important character in this story and yes, all the good guys will team up for the final battle. Against who? I won't spoiler it. I'll also take into consideration your suggestion for a Megawar II story. Anyone else have any different suggestions? Feel free to suggest._

_Cody Furlong: Many thanks for liking it!_


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